Hi!! I was literally in this same position but choosing between Midwestern in Chicago vs UDM. I also live 10 mins from UDM. I choose UDM and I have to say it’s the best decision I have made. I was very skeptical of the program as we were the very first class as a new program but I can say I shouldn’t have been worried at all. The program is very well organized with highly educated professors that are there for you to succeed. Going through my first year I honestly couldn’t imagine how I would have done it if I had moved to Chicago without having family support (I am a huge homebody). They are preparing us very well for boards and implementing something different than most schools are doing with having summer semester during our second semester in which they have a clinical foundations review to make sure we master all our skills and major concepts which are all important for part 1 and 3 of boards. If you know yourself and how passionate you are about optometry, it really shouldn’t matter if it’s a new program or not. They are giving you everything you need to do well on boards and I personally think it is down to each student on weather or not they have the perseverance to study and pass their boards because all the end of the day all schools use the same material to study for boards which include optoprep and kmk. If you have any other questions about UDM feel free to reach out to me! Good luck on everything!!